


Sear

by Jayyakira



Category: Original Work
Genre: Asphyxiation, Blood Kink, Blood and Gore, Blood and Torture, Childhood, Choking, Explicit Sexual Content, Face-Fucking, Fucked Up, High School, Italian Mafia, Loss of Virginity, M/M, Masochism, Rape/Non-con Elements, Reluctant Sadist, Sadism, pain slut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-28
Updated: 2019-04-06
Packaged: 2019-12-25 20:21:35
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,356
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18268688
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jayyakira/pseuds/Jayyakira
Summary: North is transferring to a new high school after his bullying is pushed to the limit at his old one. He's just hoping at this new school he can glide through the rest of the year under the radar until he can be home-schooled. What he doesn't expect is to find the boy he met when he was a little boy to rule the school, he also doesn't expect him to be way more dangerous than he remembered.





	1. Part 1: Niccolo (Nicco)

**Author's Note:**

> Here's my mafia work. Hope you like! It’s a long one.

I think I’m lost. Anni’s gonna be in trouble with Papa.

Anni took me out for a walk since Papa had big business to take care of, anytime Papa has big business I have to leave because the people that come to see Papa can be pretty scary. Though I never act afraid, I want to be fearless just like Papa and be the Boss just like him. If I’m the boss then everyone will have to listen to me and follow what I say, and if they don’t something really, really bad will happen to them. I don’t know what exactly would happen but I know its bad cause Papa gets his serious face and Uncle Lunno makes upside-down Mr. Potato Head face.

I look around me to find where I'm at, Uncle Lunno always told me that if I get lost to know where I am and to know the important landmarks. Anni took me to my favorite bakery, where they sell awesome cakes and ice cream with all different designs and flavors every week. I lick my melting banana nut ice cream cone and memorize my location. I'm next to a pizza shop, Toni’s Pizzeria, across the street is the barber shop that Anni takes me to to cut my hair, even though I don’t like cutting my hair. Oh! I know where I am, if I walk two blocks I’ll be at the park that Anni sometimes takes me to play! Home is only eight and three-quarter blocks away from the park, I’ve been learning my fractions.

I walk to the park and on the way eat my awesome ice cream and carry my bag of Deadpool cookies; the man at the bakery told me their raspberry and chocolate flavored. I finally reach the park and am half-way done with my ice cream. I don't see anyone in the park, probably because its so early and a Tuesday. I walk through the park because it would make my walk shorter and my legs are already starting to hurt. As I pass the big swirly slide, I see a little girl with long red hair. Her hair is long, all the way down to the middle of her back! I wish I could grow my hair like that but Papa says it would be an inconvenience, too easy for someone to grab and would get in the way all the time. The girl has her hands in her face and her shoulders are shaking, I think she’s crying. I look around to see if there’s any adult that’s watching her but we’re the only people in the park. I walk closer, and as I do I notice that the girl is really skinny; her elbow bones stick out and her legs are really bony, she looks like she hasn’t eaten any food in a long, long time. She’s wearing a dirty red t-shirt that looks like it was made for adults and baggy jean shorts that’s just as dirty as her shirt. If Anni were here she would tell me to not look and pull me to walk faster, “If you don’t look at ‘em, their less likely to beg you for anything.”

Since Anni’s not here I walk up to the girl. Up closer I can see that she hasn’t taken a bath in a while, I can smell it too. I hold my nose and call out, “Hey.” The girl looks up suddenly and watery crystal grey eyes stare up into mine. “Wooooooooowwwww… I've never seen eyes like yours before.” They’re clear almost see through, like the beginning of a storm, in a backdrop of light grey. We continue to stare at each other and it begins to become a little awkward, I look away. “Um, why are you crying?” She blinks at me cartoonishly, sort of like how they do in Looney Tunes right before they fall off a cliff.

I've forgotten about holding my nose and sit next to her on the slide, she moves over to the other side of the slide so quickly that she almost falls off but catches herself at the last minute. She looks at me then looks down quickly, blushing in embarrassment. “It’s okay,” I tell her, “sometimes I trip over my own feet and I used to cry, but my Papa told me that big boys don’t cry and that if I ever trip again I can just laugh it off. Or don’t say anything at all because anyone who has something to say about the Don will always be handled.” I nod my head as I picture my Papa in my head, the greatest leader ever. The girl looks at me shyly and smiles a little, her lips are shaped like a mini bow without the arrow and she has a small nose. Even with the tear streaks on her dirty face I can see that she’s pretty, really pretty. I can feel my face getting hot and look down. I notice my half-eaten cone and melted ice cream, forgotten. “Aww man, I forgot about my ice cream! Now it’s all melted.” I lift my arm to throw the cone but a hand shoots out and grabs my arm, causing the leftover liquid in the cone to spill over and run down my arm and onto the hand that’s holding me.

I look at the girl and see her staring at the soggy cone like it was a perfectly made ice cream cone. “Can I have it?” I stare at her in shock, not because she wants my old half-eaten cone, which is really weird and disgusting, but because she's actually a boy! His voice is low and soft but it’s definitely a boy voice. With my mouth still hanging open, I slowly offer him the cone, he looks at me doubtfully as if he expects me to snatch it away from him when he goes to take it. He moves his hand off my arm and takes the cone from me gently, then he devours the cone, making cute little grumbly sounds while he shoves the cone in his mouth and chews. He swallows and licks the spilled ice cream, now more like a milkshake, off his hands then looks at my arm, grabs it and licks the ice cream off of there too. Its kind of gross but I let him because I don’t want him to get scared off. He’s kind of like the homeless dogs I see on TV, where you can’t move too quickly or they might run off.

Once he drops my arm, I wipe the spit off onto my shirt. Now that he seems like he's willing to talk to me I ask again, “So, why were you crying earlier?”

He looks at me then looks down, crossing his skinny arms across his chest and shrugs, “I’m hungry. I haven’t eaten in a long time and my stomach really hurts.”

“Oh. Well why haven’t you eaten? Where’s your momma and papa? Don’t they feed you?” I ask.

He shakes his head, “I don’t know my momma and I haven’t seen my daddy in a lotta days. Usually he's only gone for a few days and he has something for me to eat but he hasn’t come back and I got really hungry, so I started looking in the trash for food but people keep chasing me away.” He starts to tear up and his chin starts to wobble like he's going to start crying again.

“It’s okay.” I reassure him so he doesn’t cry, I lift up the bag I have in my hand. “I have some cookies if you want.”

His eyes get really big and he starts nodding his head really fast. I laugh and open the bag, reach in and grab one of the cookies, I hand it to him and he grabs it and shoves it into his mouth, barely chewing. I grab another and it follows the same path as the first, the third one he goes to grab but I snatch it back before he can take it. “No, this one you have to eat slow. If you don’t you’ll get a bellyache, and then your gonna throw up, and then you’ll just be hungry again. Plus, you’re barely tasting the cookies and they taste really good. They’re from my favorite bakery.” I offer him the cookie again and this time he takes it from me slowly, he actually takes a bite of the soft cookie and closes his eyes as he chews. I nod my head and smile, totally understanding how he feels. He opens his eyes and smiles back at me, eating the rest of the cookie.

I slowly feed him the rest of my cookies until their all gone, he looks desolately at the empty bag and I feel bad that my puppy is still hungry. I pat his head and run my hands down his long dirty hair, I then grab his hand and pull him up so we’re both standing. “You can come to my house, my cook Rosaline always cooks a lot of food and its always really good.” As I look at him I realize he's a lot shorter that me, “How old are you?” I ask him as I pull him toward my house. He has to run to keep up since he has such shorter legs than me.

“I'm six. How old are you?”

“I'm nine, but Anni, she takes care of me when Papa’s busy, she says I'm tall for a nine year old.” He looks up at me in awe, as if I'm a superhero or something.

“Wow. I wanna be tall like you when I'm nine.”

I smile at him. “You will be.”, I promise.

He smiles back at me brightly and starts to skip with my hand still in his. We get to the street and the walk sign is bright white, indicating that we can go. But still I look both ways just like Anni taught me. I look down at my new friend and see him looking both ways also. I guess he wouldn’t have been able to get to the park if he didn’t know how to cross the street. As were walking, he begins to talk about everything and anything he sees. Telling me how pretty he thinks this flower is and how big that house is, everything around him is so pretty and clean. “Is it not like this where you live?” I ask him.

He shakes his head, “No, I live a lot far from here. When I was running away from the man with a broom I got lost but I found the park and I stayed there because there was nobody around. And the park where I live isn’t as big as that one or as nice.” As he thinks about it he frowns but he soon perks up as we pass a house with a full in bloom flower garden.

I wonder where he lives, I've never been anywhere but the shops and stores by my house in the city. He did say he lived really far away from here. I wonder how far he ran and if his papa has gone looking for him yet. A black Range Rover pulls up beside us in the street and the passenger opens to reveal my Uncle Lunno. I smile and run up him dragging my new friend along. “Uncle Lunno!” I yell.

He gives me a stern look and I stop in front of him, looking down guiltily, “We’ve been looking for you, Niccolo. You should already know that you should always stay with Anni. And if your ever separated from her?”

“Be aware of my surroundings and try to find my way home, if I can’t then I try to find one of the safe houses I've memorized. If I don’t feel safe, then I find somewhere to hide until I feel safe enough to come out.” I say, these rules have been drilled into my head since I've been able to talk.

Uncle Lunno nods his head, “And did you follow the directions taught to you?” Uncle Lunno’s bald head shines in the sun, his suit bulging as he crosses his arms in full lecture mode.

I nod my head but stop mid nod, “Well I did at first. I looked around and saw Tony’s Pizzeria and the barber shop where I get my hair cut and I knew that the park was close to there and I knew that home was close to the park. So, I went to the park and I was walking through it because it would be shorter and it was empty but then…” My panicked rambling puttered off as I got to my new friend, who I realized is hiding behind me while still holding my hand.

“Well?”, Uncle Lunno asks, raising one of his thick black eyebrows. He notices my attention has been diverted and looks at the hand that’s behind my back. Seeing as he’s so much taller than me, he looks over and behind me at my tiny shadow. “Who’s your guest, Niccolo?”, he asks.

I fidget slightly before straightening my shoulders and standing tall, “This is my new friend, ummm…” I turn my head slightly and whisper out the side of my lips, “Hey, what’s your name?”

He looks up at me, wide eyed, and whispers, “North.”

I grin at him and he gives me a miniature smile back, I turn back to face my uncle and see what looks like the ghost of a smile leaving his face, “This is my new friend North!” I say triumphantly.

Uncle Lunno nods, “And where did you meet this new friend?”

“In the park. I thought he was a girl at first cause he has such long hair and he was crying and I know Anni says I shouldn’t talk to strangers but I didn’t think that she was gonna hurt me and she was sad. So I asked her what was wrong and she turned out to be a boy and he was hungry, so I gave him the rest of my ice cream cone even though the cone was soggy and I gave him all my Deadpool cookies even though I didn’t get any.” I ran through my report just like Uncle Lunno and Papa taught me, only the important details, short and sweet, as Papa likes to say.

Uncle Lunno nods his head proudly and I straighten up even more in pride.

“Well let me see this new friend of yours who you thought was a girl but really is a boy.” He says with a lopsided grin.

I pull North, what a weird name, out from behind me. Even though he resists I'm a lot stronger than him, because I'm bigger and because he still slightly weak from hunger. He staggers out from behind me but immediately clings to my side while looking up at my uncle in fear. “Its okay North, my Uncle Lunno is nice and he can take us to my house faster so that you can get something to eat.”, I say trying to reassure him.

Uncle Lunno bends down and puts his hands on his knees so that he’s less intimidating, “Hi, its nice to meet you North. Are you hungry? Would you like something to eat?”

North nods his head slowly, still clinging to me. I wrap my arm around him and squeeze his skinny shoulders, I look at my Uncle Lunno wide eyed hoping that he can help. North is so skinny I can practically feel his bones, I try not to hug him too tight or else I'm afraid he might break. Uncle Lunno nods in understanding, gets up and opens the back door to the SUV.

I get into the car pulling North along with me until he’s in the middle seat, I wave to Vincent who’s in the driver’s seat watching us with curious, light green eyes. He gives me a two-finger salute and a grin. He’s one of my favorites among Papa’s men. I buckle our seat belts as North looks around the car in fascination. The inside of the car is pretty cool, with its dark red leather seats with black stitching, sun roof, screens in the back of the front seat for movies and shows, and black leather, touch-screened dashboard. When North looks back at me wide eyed I just smile and grab his hand, he looks down at our joined hands then interlaces our fingers before giving my hand a squeeze. He then leans his head against my shoulder, takes a deep breath and lets it out closing his eyes as he does, falling asleep within a few minutes. I rub his head soothingly with my other hand then lay my head on top of his. Following my new friends lead, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly while closing my eyes, sinking into the blackness known as sleep.

All the while, the boys don't notice the dark eyes watching them in the rearview mirror.


	2. Lunno

Vincent parks the car in the garage and turns it off. I open the back door and take the sleeping skinny, unwashed boy into my arms. Vincent grabs my nephew and we bring them into the house.

We walk into the spacious living room and lay the boys onto the large black L-shaped couch, North briefly waking up and looking around. Once he finds Niccolo he cuddles up to his side, nestling his head into the crook of Niccolo’s neck and immediately falls back asleep. Vincent aww’s them and smirks at the scowl I throw his way. Shaking my head, I walk across the hall to the kitchen, finding Rosaline prepping food for dinner. She smiles at me while kneading the dough for her handmade pasta.

“Is Nicco ready for lunch?”, she asks.

I nod, “Yes and I'm going to need you to prepare another plate. He found a friend, make sure that you add a little more to that plate. The kid looks like he hasn’t eaten in days.”

Rosaline first looks surprised and then concerned. “Of course, Mr. Lunno.” She immediately goes to wash her hands and prepare my mischievous nephew and his companion’s lunch.

Now to tell the boy’s grouchy father. I sigh and head to my brother’s office.

I walk through the house that I know like the back of my hand. I ran through these halls when I was only a child exploring the expansive and elegant mansion. This was when father was the head of the family, now he's retired to the Cayman Islands with mother and only gets involved in the business when Lorenzo needs advice; though he hasn’t asked for it for a long time now.

The house has three floors and is located on an expansive land that houses the men and staff. The main house only houses the family, with ten bedrooms, eleven and a half baths, indoor and outdoor pools, an indoor sauna, Jacuzzi's, and tennis and basketball courts. It’s the envy of the whole neighborhood, always has been. Though none of our neighbors would ever complain, even about the loud, over the top, into the morning parties. They’d learned their lessons long ago, and anyone new to move into the neighborhood is warned before the week is up that even a simple noise complaint would come with severe and swift consequences.

I head to the back of the first floor and down a sequence of hallways that was specially designed by our father, or at least he hired the architect to design our house of mazes. Of course, after the house was built that man was quickly disposed of. Early age heart attacks are a terrible, tragic happenstance. All the excitement from such a large contract, guess his heart just couldn’t take it.

I take the hidden elevator down to the nonexistent basement. I walk down the dark hardwood floors until I get to the double doors that houses my little brother’s office. I knock twice and wait for his invitation to come in.

“You know those things will kill you.” I comment as I close the door behind me. Lorenzo lifts an eyebrow and takes a pull on his Cuban imported cigar.

“I'm guessing you found my errant son.”

“Would I ever come back empty handed?” I take a seat on the plush brown leather couch in front of the bar on the right side of the large desk that has been in the Lombardi family for generations. I glance at the bar and decide that I'm probably going to need a drink for this conversation. I get up and pour myself two fingers of bourbon before sitting back down, Lorenzo waiting patiently for my report on his wayward son. “I found him walking home from the park.”

Lorenzo gets up and pours himself a drink, probably guessing he’s going to need one too. “Well at least he remembered what we taught him.” He takes a sip and returns behind his desk.

“Yeah but I haven’t told you the best part yet.” We each take a drink in preparation, Lorenzo nods telling me to go on. “I found him walking but he apparently found a stray on his trip through the park.”

Lorenzo sits back in his chair with a sigh, “I swear that boy is too compassionate for his own good sometimes. Compassion isn’t the best feature for the Don inherit of this family to have.”

I take another sip of my drink, “Yes, but in Niccolo compassion works for him. Anni sometimes fears that Niccolo is too emotionless and manipulative. Last week he threatened one of the maids because she didn’t put his iPad in its ‘designated’ place.”

Lorenzo frowns in thought, “What did he threaten?”

“He told her if she didn’t get her act together he would make sure Lou would come to see her next time in a body bag, said necrophilia isn’t very attractive in a woman.”

Lorenzo’s eyebrows climbed his forehead as if it were a race, “Wow, I didn’t know Nicco spoke like that.”

I nod, “Yeah, the house staff try to stay out of his way. They fear the kid and he’s only nine. Plus I think he might have OCD. I think he needs more interactions with kids his own age, hanging out with the men is not helping his personality development.”

Lorenzo seems to think about it, “Maybe we should send him to school instead of home-schooling him. That way he gets some street-smarts as well as book-smarts. Plus he’s been pushing me to let him out of the house more.”

I didn’t have to do as much persuading as I thought I would have to, and it looks like Niccolo’s been doing some persuading of his own. I wrap my hands around my decanter and nod, “You thinking of sending him to the private school Valentina, Leo and Alex attend?”

Lorenzo’s oldest children board at a private school an hour away from here. They come home on vacations and when schools not in session but they don't have a very close relationship with Niccolo because of the age gap. “Niccolo’s not very close to them and they need to bond if their going to be running the family together.”

Lorenzo shakes his head and relights his ignored until now cigar, “No, I'm going to send him to public school. He’s not going to learn anything from private school except to be entitled and prissy.”

I raise an eyebrow in astonishment, I'm surprised he’s saying this about private schools especially since he sent his three oldest kids to one. “You’re seriously going to send him to a public school?”

Lorenzo nods into the cloud of smoke he just blew out of his mouth, “Yeah, it’ll toughen him up.”


	3. Niccolo (Nicco)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't gotten it already, Part 1 is going to be Nicco and North's childhood!! Be warned there is going to be kiddy exploration going on later on in further chapters. I'll make sure to add a tag lol.

I wake up to Rosaline calling my name. I feel someone holding my side and find North snuggling up to me with his head buried in my neck, his breath tickling me. I giggle and try to block my neck with the hand that’s not trapped under North. All my wiggling wakes him up and he blinks up at me in confusion. Rosaline laughs and claps her hands together three times like she does when she wants to get my attention. Sometimes I get really annoyed by her but she makes good food so I don't say anything.

“Lunch is ready guys. Get up, get up!”, she states as she puts her hands on her hips.

“Food?” North exclaims, his stomach growls loudly and he grabs it in embarrassment. I smile and slide off the couch, I grab his hand and lead him into the kitchen where I can smell the fried dumplings Rosaline made for lunch. “Mmm, it smells so good.”

I nod and lead him to the counter, “Wait till you taste it! Rosaline’s makes awesome food.”

I pull out the tall high backed chair at the counter for him and help him to sit on it, then I sit in my own chair. Rosaline walks around the counter and uncovers both the plates, on each one are round golden brown fried dumplings with a reddish ground meat with sliced onions and green peppers in it. Rosaline calls it corned beef and fried dumplings. North looks at his food in puzzlement and pokes at his corned beef in confusion.

“Rosaline’s family is from Jamaica, it’s a tropical island. This is called Jamaican food.” I tell North. Rosaline nods her head and smiles in approval, then she turns to the food that she's prepping on the opposite counter, probably for dinner.

“Ooooooohhhhh.” North says as he continues to poke at it, he then shrugs picks some up with his fork and shoves it into his mouth. He brightens as he shoves in more, once again making those growly noises like a little dog. I clear my throat to get his attention, he stops and stares at me, I pick up my fried dumpling and break it in half just as Rosaline taught me. The inside steams with heat, I then pick up a fork full of the corned beef and put it on the soft, white steaming dough in the middle of the dumpling before talking a bite and chewing; then I look at North pointedly.

He picks up his own dumpling and breaks it in half, following my lead he spreads some of the corned beef onto the dumpling and takes a bite. His eyes open even wider, something I didn’t think was possible and shoves more into his mouth. I shake my head and smile, eating my own lunch like a civilized human being as Papa likes to say.

North finishes his food in record time, pushing the plate away and slumping back in the chair, after he literally licked the plate clean. He really is like a puppy. I finish my food and Rosaline takes our plates to put them in the dish washer, “Thanks for lunch, Rosaline.” I say as I jump down from my chair.

“Yeah, thank you for lunch.” North repeats meekly, then follows me down having to use my chair for help. I grab his hand and lead him to the foyer where the stairs are.

“Do you want to see my room?” I ask North excitedly. He nods his head eagerly and I practically drag him up the stairs and down the long hall to my room.

I'm so excited! I've never had any friends in my room before. Only Papa, Uncle Lunno, Anni, Rosaline, Papa’s men, and housekeepers have been in my room, not even my brothers and sister have been in there. At least I hope they haven’t, they don't like me very much.

We get outside the closed door and I take my shoes off, lining them up with the rest of my shoes that are in the hall. “You have to take off your shoes, I don't like dirt in my room.” North nods and sits down so he can take off his shoes, there pretty ragged and dirty with the sole coming loose on one of them. “How come you don't have better clothes and shoes?”

North looks up at me and then down as he plays with a thread hanging off his shirt, “My daddy doesn’t have a lot of money, he says that clothes aren’t as important as food and shelter.”

I feel bad that I made North sad even though Papa always says that if I have an important question that I should ask it. “Hey, do you like games?” I ask as a distraction. North nods his head vigorously as I help him up from the floor. I open my door and step to the side so North can see the awesome room I designed myself.

I have a big bed with a black iron headboard with the shape of a spider in its web against the far wall. My bed sheets are silver and super soft. Sometimes I just wiggle around in them to feel them against my skin. We had a new housekeeper a few months ago, I'm pretty sure she didn’t like me very much. She used to change my sheets to the cotton kind, even though I told her I didn’t like them. I found out that she was deathly afraid of spiders, so I started collecting spiders that I found around the house and in the garden, we keep on the side of the house. It took me two months to find enough spiders but once I did, I crept into her room while she was showering and tipped the box of collected spiders over her head. She screamed so loudly and ran out of the bathroom naked, dancing around and screaming for someone to get them off her. It was so funny but I had to keep quiet to make sure no one saw me. The gardener finally calmed her down and wrapped her in a spare sheet, she was breathing hard and shaking. i walked out of the hallway toward them and she glanced up at me while the gardener was speaking with a guard about all the commotion. I grinned at her and at her gasp, I turned away to go play the new video game Anni had bought me that day. She quit the next day.

I snapped out of my memory and find North at the electronics station I have set up across from my bed. He's babbling about how huge my TV is and how many games I have, so he hasn’t noticed that I zoned out. I go over to him and grab his hand, dragging him away from my pristine games and TV.

“Before we do anything, we have to get clean first.”

I take him to the door opposite the one we came in. My bathroom is big, I have a big grey marble jacuzzi, set into the floor for when I want a bath, in the far-right corner and a glass shower to the left of it. The sink is to the left with a large mirror above it and a stool below it. To the right of the bath is the toilet. I drop North’s hand at the door and go to the bath and turn on the water. While its running I pour bubble bath under the falling water to help it foam up then turn off the water once its high enough.

I take off my shirt and turn around once I find that North isn’t next to me. He’s still at the door ringing his fingers nervously. “Come on, don't you want to play games?”

“Yeah.”, he answers meekly.

“So, come on!” I go over and grab his hand, bringing him over to the tub and continue to take my socks off.

North slowly takes off his shirt, I smile at him in encouragement as I take off my shorts and throw them with the rest of my clothes. Only in my underwear, North stops what he’s doing to watch me as I hook my fingers underneath them and pull them down. He stares at me down there, then looks away with a blush.

“It’s okay, you have one too, were boys.” I shrug, as I step down carefully into the bath and submerge into the warm water. I look at North to see that he’s still frozen in place like a statue. “Come on!” I say impatiently. He jumps and hurries to take off his shorts and underwear, he then steps in to the bath and moans at the warmth. “Awesome right?” He nods. “Here, you can sit on the ledge. Can I wash your hair?” I ask.

He looks at me funny, but nods. “Yeah, you can wash my hair.”

I grin and rush over to get the shampoo and conditioner from the other side of the tub. I open the shampoo bottle and pour some on top of his head, “Close your eyes.” Once he does, I scrub his head with my nails, not too hard. I love it when Anni washes my hair, so I know that North will too. Once I start scrubbing his hair, North relaxes and makes cute, happy noises. “See?” He nods without opening his eyes and melts into my hands. “Let me sit behind you that way you can lay against me.”

“Okay.” He scoots forward and I slide behind him, he lays back against me with his head resting against my collar bone. I give his head a good scrub, I make sure to clean his long, long hair, squeezing out the leftover soap through the ends. Then I grab the detachable shower head and rinse his hair, making sure not to get any of the soap into his eyes. Once all the soap is gone, I grab the conditioner and pour some onto his head, spread it around until it foams up. I grab the length of his hair and begin to play with it, laughing. “What?”, North asks in curiosity as he turns around and opens his eyes carefully.

“Nothing, its just your hair is fun to play with. I wish my hair was long like yours.”

“You like my hair?”

“Of course I do, even though it makes you look like a girl,” North giggling once he sees that I'm joking. “and I like the color, its so red.” North smiles shyly and ducks his head.

“What’s going on here?”, a deep voice bellows.


	4. Lunno

I finish my bourbon, as Lorenzo takes a call. The boy North is interesting. I wonder at the relationship he would have with Niccolo if they were to see each other long term. Would they stay friends or would North end up more as an underling to Niccolo, a pushover and loyal follower. Of course, you could never go wrong with that.

As the leader of a group of people, you have to keep constant watch over them to make sure they never betray you or take up in underhanded dealings with the enemy when they think you’re not watching. Truly loyal followers are as important as currency. However, I don’t think that North will be held in that category, based on the attachment Niccolo has formed to him after such little time. I have a feeling Niccolo will cause more than a bit of trouble when it comes to North, more than he already does. For as young as my nephew is, I holds a lot of respect for him. More than I do for my other niece and nephews, who are spoiled and hoity. Lorenzo's determined to raise Niccolo right, as the heir to the Lombardi family legacy.

At such a young age, Niccolo already had the makings of a lethal leader. Nicco is manipulative as much as he is sensitive and compassionate to things that catch his fancy. However, if he doesn’t like something or someone, he has a way of getting rid of it so it is no longer a problem. For example, the housekeeper that up and quit after the spider incident. I know that was no random happenstance. However, I also know that that housekeeper held a grudge against Niccolo and was envious of the way we lived. I was planning on dealing with her but it seemed that Niccolo took it into his own hands. I grin to myself, he’s smarter than the average kid, though he still acts like one most of the time. He’s got the patience of a predator and a stronger will. If I were to have ever had a son I would have wanted him to be just like Niccolo. No, I think of Niccolo as a son already, more than a nephew.

“What are you smiling about over there?” Lorenzo asks as he hangs up the phone.

Lunno gets up and goes to the sink behind the bar to rinse out his glass, “Nothing too important. I'm sure Niccolo has awoken by now, why don't we go check on how he and North are doing?”

“North? Is that the boy whom he brought homes' name?” Lorenzo asks as he walks from behind his desk and opens the door to the office.

Lunno follows him out and they head to the elevator, taking it to the second floor, “Yup. Not a very common name. I’ll get his full name and try to find out who his family is and their situation.”

Lorenzo nods and steps out of the elevator, “Yes, lets get as much information on the family that we can. I have a feeling that Nicco isn’t going to let this kid go easily. He’s very fond of his toys.”

Lorenzo knows his son well, there’s a reason Niccolo admires him so much and he became Don.

They walk down the hall toward Niccolo’s room, Nicco and North’s shoes are neatly organized in front of Nicco’s door. “OCD indeed.” Lorenzo says under his breath.

I smirk and follow him into the room, though we both take off our shoes and place them neatly in the row first. At first glance there’s no one in the room, then they hear voices coming from in the bathroom. The bathroom door is wide open, and they find clothes scattered all over the floor. Surprising with Niccolo’s OCD tendencies.

Does it not apply when it comes to the bathroom or is North a deterrent?

In the jacuzzi, sits my nephew playing in the long red hair belonging to North, who sits between his legs leaning against him. Niccolo laughs and North turns around to look up at him after questioning him. I can see the gleam of admiration in his eyes as he looks at Niccolo, also something else. Affection maybe?

“Nothing, it’s just your hair is fun to play with. I wish my hair was long like yours.” Niccolo replies. Lunno isn’t surprised, as Niccolo always complains when he has to get his hair cut.

“You like my hair?” North asks shyly. He has a soft, quiet voice but there’s a masculinity to it that is distinctly male, not unattractive. His face and hair however, have a very strong femininity to them, giving him a very androgynous look. Lunno can see why Niccolo would take such a strong liking to him after such a short time, he is very beautiful for a child.

“Of course I do, even though it makes you look like a girl and I like the color, it’s so red.” Norths face turns a soft pink and he ducks his head at the semi compliment.

“What’s going on here?” North jumps in surprise falling back into the water. Niccolo grabs at him. Lorenzo and I race over to them to help the poor kid up before he drowns. He comes out of the water sputtering and choking. Niccolo pats his back hard and tells him to breathe, he looks straight into his eyes as he commands North to calm down. North nods and starts to breathe normally.

Niccolo then looks at his father sternly, “Papa why’d you scare us like that?” I chuff, more like he scared one of you.

“I was just wondering what both of you were doing in the bath together.” Lorenzo asks with a frown.

“I was washing North’s pretty hair. Besides were both boys, we can take a bath together. We have the same parts.” Niccolo looks down pointedly, just in case we didn’t get the reference.

“Yes, you do but since when do boys take baths together? Couldn’t you go one after another?” Lorenzo counters.

“Yeah but what’s the fun in that? Then it would take longer to play games together. Plus in other countries, like Japan. Men bath together all the time. They even wash each other’s backs. It helps with bonding and is a sign of respect.” Niccolo smiles in triumph knowing that he’s won this argument. Cunning little runt, arent’cha?

“Yeah, yeah smartass. Finish your communal bath. I want you both out in 20 minutes. I have to speak to both of you.” Lorenzo says sternly before getting up and leaving the room.

I wink, “Nice reasoning skills there, kid. Guess our lessons are paying off after all.” I comment as I follow my brother, closing the door as I go.

I find Lorenzo’s lounging on the large, black leather L-shaped couch next to the bed, “That kids a little shit you know.” He states with a smirk.

“You now figuring that out?” I laugh as I join him on the couch.

“He’s gonna be a force to be reckoned with when he gets older. Hell, he’s a force now and he’s not even ten.” He smirked at me. “Shit we raise ‘em well!”

I lift my hand in imaginary toast of agreement.


	5. Niccolo (Nicco)

As Uncle Lunno follows Papa out of the door and closes it, North relaxes slightly.

“Was that your daddy?”, he asks.

I turn him around and grab the conditioner again so I could actually rinse out his hair this time, since his attempted drowning did it for me. He immediately relaxes back against me. I nod, even though he can’t see me and begin to scrub his hair again. He sighs and sinks a little farther into the water. I smirk, “Yeah that’s my Papa. He’s the Don of the family and Uncle Lunno is his second in command and his advisor.”

“What's a Don? It sounds like your family is in the army or something.”

“They kind of are in an army, except they don't work for the government. And they don't wear uniforms, although my Papa likes his men to dress in suits or dressy clothes. The Don is like the leader. He commands everyone and tells them what to do.”

“Your Papa’s kinda scary and your Uncle Lunno too.” He shivers slightly.

I don't reply instead I rinse out his hair in slightly hotter water and then reach for two of the washcloths that are next to all the soap. I hand him his, then grab the body wash that smells like cherries. He turns around and watches as I dunk the washcloth in the water then pour some of the body wash onto it. He follows me, dunking his cloth then holding it out for me to pour some of the soap onto it. I put the soap back in its rightful place then begin to wash myself, North does the same facing away from me and ducking his head. I can see that his face is red.

“Why are you blushing?” I ask. He glances at me and then shrugs shyly, blushing even brighter. He looks like the red peppers Rosaline often uses when making her especially spicy food. I shrug and finish washing, quickly washing and rinsing my hair. I stand on the ledge of the tub and rinse my whole body using the detachable shower head. Climbing out, I stand next to the tub and gesture to North. “Come on, let me rinse you off.”

North glances at me then moves slowly to the edge of the tub where I'm standing, never lifting his head. I reach a hand down, he glances at it then into my eyes. I smile at him and he gives me a tiny smile back, before taking my hand. I lift him up onto the ledge of the tub and rinse his off.

He's so small, smaller than a lot of the kids I've seen who look to be his age. I wonder if his parents are small like him or if it’s something else. My expression darkens as I think of some of the other reasons why. If someone has hurt my North… they’ll wish they'd never been born. Or maybe they’ll wish North had never been. I shrug to myself, they probably wouldn't be able to think through all the pain I would inflict on them. Vincent has been teaching me a lot of ways to use a knife, he even got me my own set. The way hunting knives-

North shakes my wrist and I glance at him. “Are you okay?”, he asks. He looks so worried, like a puppy when its owners sad.

I nod and turn the water off, unplugging the tub. I then grab a towel from the closet next to the door. Going back to North I throw it over his head, rubbing his hair vigorously he giggles as it moves his head around. I stop and he peeks up out of the towel at me and smiles. I grin grabbing him to me for a hug, I lean down and give him a peck on the lips, “Your so cute.”

He blushes again and shoves his head into my neck, hiding. I grab the towel off of him and dry the rest of his body. He squeaks when I get to his mini North but I'm finish before he can fully get it out. I wrap the towel around his shoulders, then grab one for myself, drying off quickly. “Come on.” I say, as I head for the door. I hear his tiny footsteps behind me so I know he's following.

In my room, I see Papa and Uncle Lunno sitting on my couch. I head to my clothes closet, North following behind me with his head ducked as usual and towel tightly grasp around him. I grab one of my soft grey t-shirts, I think Anni said it was made out of cashmere, which comes from goats. I then grab a pair of black shorts and underwear and hand them to North. I want him to be comfortable plus his clothes look old, dirty and worn out, like they were hand-me downs. Not to mention smelly.

Anni told me once about a store called Goodwill, where people sell their old clothes and then other people buy them for cheap. I shuddered just thinking about wearing someone else’s old, cotton clothing.

"Here put this on.”

He reaches for the clothes shyly and begins to get dressed. I grab a black cashmere t-shirt for myself, army green sweat pants and some boxers. I get dressed quickly knowing that our twenty minutes are almost up. During training with my Papa, he always tells me of the importance of timing. If I’m late or am not able to complete something in the time that I’m given, we would start everything all over again. Lessons sometime lasted all day.

Once dressed, I pick up our towels and throw them in the laundry basket by the door. I face North, my clothes are too big for him and he looks even smaller than he usually does. He’s holding up the shorts by the waist and I smile before heading to the drawers to my right. I open up the belt drawer and hand him one. He smiles bright and runs the belt through the loops in the shorts, he tightens it to the last hole before threading the rest of the belt through the loops.

I grab one of his small soft hands and lead him out of the room and to my bed. I help him climb on then sit next to him looking at my Papa expectantly. He's giving North what I call his x-ray glare, its where Papa tries to see through someone and into their soul so that he can judge their intentions. Of course, to do that Papa needs to look into their eyes and North is ducking his head submissively again. Instead Papa looks at me, narrowing his eyes.

“So, Lunno tells me you found your stray in the park. After you got separated from Anni that is.” I’m the one ducking my head now as I see the admonishment in Papa’s eyes. “You know you are to stay with Anni at all times, you know that it can be very dangerous for you if somebody unsavory recognizes who you are or the family that you belong to.”

“I know. Joe from the pizza shop was asking me a lot of questions. I told him I had to go but he grabbed my arm. I demanded he let me go or he'd regret it and he did quickly, so I forgave him.” I shrug. Papa gives Uncle Lunno a quick glance, who nods and pulls out his phone shooting a quick text, probably to one of the subordinates.

“You should tell us about this stuff immediately next time Niccolo. Its information we need to know, especially if someone is touching you without your permission.” Uncle Lunno reminds me.

“Sorry, I got distracted and forgot. It won’t happen again.” I look at both Papa and Uncle Lunno in the eyes, in promise. Papa nods and Uncle Lunno gives me a small smile before it disappears.

“Good. Now North, the boy of the hour. Why were you all alone in the park? Where are your parents?” Papa asks. North finally looks up and under his lashes to glance at Papa before looking firmly to the floor and leaning back to hide slightly behind me.

In a low voice, “I haven't seen my daddy for a while. I went outside because I was hungry and I went to look for food. I got chased away from behind a store by a really big man and I got lost. I saw the park and I've been sleeping in the slide.”

Uncle Lunno shakes his head, “Neglectful idiots.” I heard him say under his breath.

“Do you know your father's name?”, Papa continues questioning.

“Yeah, its Paul Levitts.”

“Do you have the same last name?” At North’s nod of his head, “Do you know what he does for a living?” a head shake this time. “Alright, what about your mother, where is she?”

“He doesn’t know her.” I answer for him, as I feel him start to tremble against me. I give Papa a reprimanding look before I turn to North, “You want to play games now?” He nods against my shoulder.

“Can I use the bathroom first?” I nod and he hops off the bed and heads to the bathroom. I get up and turn my Wii on before putting in Mario Cart.

“Niccolo, you know you can’t keep North right? He has a family however neglectful they may be.” Papa says, looking pointedly at Uncle Lunno when he's finished.

“But Papa, his papa is neglectful. He’s way too small for his age and his papa leaves him alone for days at a time without any food. He’s not a good papa if you ask me.” I cross my arms over my chest and pout.


	6. Lunno

“But Papa, his papa is neglectful. He’s way too small for his age and his papa leaves him alone for days at a time without any food. He’s not a good papa if you ask me.” Niccolo whines as he crosses his arms over his chest. Niccolo may be intelligent beyond his years and ruthless at times but I forget that he’s still a 9-year-old kid and very immature at times, I think with a sigh.

“Listen Niccolo, we can’t go around rescuing all the little abused and neglected kids from around the city like their little strays. You know what we would be if we did that?”, my brother asks, looking at his son expectantly. Once Niccolo shakes his head he continues, “Then we would be a shitty orphanage. Well maybe not so shitty but an orphanage none the less.

As Niccolo opens his mouth to argue, Lorenzo continues. “What we will do is find this boy’s blood relation and go from there. Now there is no guarantee that once we find them and find out that they can’t take care of North that we will come to the child’s rescue. However…” Lorenzo continued as Niccolo tries once again to interrupt, “we will observe and proceed from there.”

Lorenzo stands and I follow, whipping out my phone and pressing 5 on the speed dial before pressing the phone to my ear. “We will be dealing with this. Play your games and I will have Rosaline send up some snacks for you guys.” He walks over and places a kiss on Niccolo’s forehead, Niccolo tipped his head up and Lorenzo places a chaste kiss on his lips. “I love you son, don’t worry on this too much. Your Papa will handle it.” North nods and turns to North as he exits the bathroom. I follow my brother out of the room and close the door as the person on the end of the line picks up the phone.

“Wassup, Bossman numero dos.”, an energetic male voice answers.

“What did I tell you about a more proper greeting when answering the phone?” I ask with a disapproving shake of my head.

“Hey man, that is a more than proper greeting when answering the phone. It livens up the phone call instead of the typical brute, ‘This is LD, speak’”, he mocks in a bass tone I believe he entertains to be a copy of my voice. He cracks up as I continue to shake my head, Lorenzo glances at me with a raised brow. I give him a ‘you don’t want to know’ gesture and turn away as he smirks and continues down the hallway.

“Enough with the theatrics or I'll have someone come over there and disconnect your power for an hour.”

“Ahh, come on man! That’s a low blow. I thought we were getting along here, big guy.”

I can hear the pout in his voice even through the phone and smirk. Considering that LD is a tech geek who never comes out of his apartment and lives on the internet 24/7, I knew the threat would cool his humor. There’s even a rumor going around that once upon a time, the power went down in his neighborhood for half an hour and the analyst became convinced that the apocalypse was finally upon them.

“I have a job for you.” I say getting to the point. “I need you to look someone up for me and get me their location.”

With typing in the background, “Go ahead, boss.”

“Paul Levitts, his son’s name is North Levitts. Give me a background checks of both and look into the mother if you can, also any family relatives and their locations.”

“Got it boss. I’ll have everything back to you before the end of the day.” LD replies, serious now that he has an assignment.

"Have it in a couple of hours, I'll be over soon." I hang up and put my phone away.

“That’s handled.” Lorenzo nods.

We exit the elevator onto the house-staff floor, walking down the long hall. People in the hallway nod their head as we pass, newer staff making themselves scarce afterward. We turn the second corner and approach the second door to the left, Lorenzo knocks twice heavily. The door is opened immediately and Anni steps to the side in invitation to enter. She closes the door and walks over to the kitchenette counter, where a cup of coffee is sitting barely touched. She picks it up and cradles it, as if it’s her only point of comfort.

I step back, to the side of the front door and assume the position of guard, face forward and eyes directly in front of me. Lorenzo takes a seat on the light brown suede couch in the living room to the left. The space is decorated with photos of Anni with friends and family while little knick knacks decorate the tables around the room.

The room is soon filled with a stifling pressure. Anni trembles slightly, barely perceptible, breathing slightly quicker than normal. Her breath hitches as Lorenzo breaks the unbearable, almost awkward silence, “You’ve been working for me for ten years now Anni. Since sweet Niccolo was still but a small bundle in my beloved wife’s womb.” Lorenzo pauses looking Anni directly in her light brown eyes, “You and the rest of the staff know what we do or at least a glimmer of what we do. As the caretaker of one of my children you know more than the average, especially since you were trained by my other children’s nanny, Marisol. She was a great nanny, so I know she taught you well.”

Lorenzo crosses his leg and rests his ankle on his opposite thigh before resting his interwoven hands on his ankle. Never having broken eye contact with Anni, he smiles lightly. The smile is anything but comforting however, more the pulling of muscle to bare blunt teeth more than willing and practiced in rendering flesh into miniscule pieces. The smile of a tried and true predator. The nanny’s gaze is trapped in Lorenzo’s predatory one, her fright reflex activated.

“You’ve only had minimal reprimands in all the time that you’ve worked for the family, Anni. You know all the rules. And still it seems that you’ve forgotten the most important one of them all. You’ve forgotten the parameters of your own job description.”

By this time, I’ve moved from my station by the door and moved toward the captivated caretaker. So caught up in the predatory gaze upon her, flight doesn’t even register in her mind. The body alongside her smaller one doesn’t register to her senses.

The haze is suddenly ripped apart as my hand slides around her delicate throat and her air is suddenly choked off, “Since you’ve so easily forgotten why you’re here, let me remind you.” Lorenzo continues.

Eyes starting to bulge, she never takes her eyes off of him knowing that the alpha predator was still seated on the couch, smile on his face, legs crossed. I tighten my grip ever so slightly, “A nanny watches their ward. In your case, you watch my child as if he is your own son. As if his life is yours. Even greater than yours, in fact.”

By now her face is starting to redden, her pulse jumping under my fingers. Sitting forward, Lorenzo uncrosses his legs and leans his elbows on his knees. He tilts his head to the side, giving her an inquisitive look, as if what she’s about to say has him riveted.

“Now knowing all this, why did you walk away? Why walk away without checking that you had your own son, your own life, with you?” He nods at her in encouragement, as if she paused in speaking instead of my grip cutting off her air supply. At the signal I loosen my grip, allowing her to gulp in air.

She closes her eyes as tears fall, she sobs loudly, holding her previously full coffee mug in a death grip. “I wah-wasn’t paying att-ttention Mr. Lom-lombardi.”

“And why was that?”, he asks gently.

“My-my ex boyfriend called me a-and we started arguing. By the time I go-got off the phone, I had walked haa-aalfw-wway back to the house and Nnnn-niccolo waa-wasn’t with me.”, her throat clicks as she swallows. “I went back to look for him, I-i swear but he was nowhere to be f-found.”

“Really?” Lorenzo glances at me, smile impossibly wider. “Did you hear that Lunno? She got distracted and lost her ward. But I mean she went back to look, so that should count for something right?” He looks back at her, smile completely wiped from his face like it had never been there.

She starts to hyperventilate, as she realizes the games are over. The predator has grown bored toying with his meal and is ready to feel the contentment of a full stomach. I grab a handful of her wavy brown hair and slam her against the counter face down, the coffee mug drops to the floor and breaks into pieces, spilling the remaining coffee all over the floor and her pants. With my other hand I grab her wrist and slam it on the counter in front of her face, spreading her fingers as much as possible. Lorenzo casually walks around the counter as if he’s been in the apartment many times and knows it intimately. Anni follows him with her eyes as he walks up to the knife block and pulls out the knives one by one, examining each with a contemplative look before lifting up the large butcher knife.

At this, Anni starts crying in earnest. Thick tears falling from her eyes, snot falling from her nose. She begs Lorenzo to let her go. She swears it will never happen again. She’ll do anything she promises. Just don’t hurt her, please don’t hurt her.

Lorenzo turns to her serious as ever, knife in hand, “You see, if my beloved son had gotten kidnapped because of your incompetent derelict, he could have been begging his kidnappers for the same things. Begging these inadequate Neanderthals! My son! The most deserving of my blood! The most deserving of this legacy! I would have to explain to him why his Papa failed. Why his Papa let him feel such pain and suffering. Why his Papa didn’t come as soon as he called. Why his Papa doesn’t love him enough!”

He raises the knife and brings it down on her pinky finger. She screams in pain as her finger start to squirt blood onto Lorenzo’s face and the front of his pristine, white shirt and grey suit jacket.

He turns around and grabs one of the hand towels next to the sink, wiping the blood off of his face as he takes a deep calming breath. With Anni still screaming, he throws the dishtowel onto the decapitated nub of her pinky finger. I let go of her head and grab her right hand directing her to put pressure on her other hand. As I step back, her body slides to the floor and she stays there weeping softly, shaking as she goes into shock. Lorenzo comes from around the counter and squats in front of her, tilting her face to make sure she’s paying attention to him.

“Listen, this is only your first big reprimand! Everyone has those when they work at a place for a long amount of time. You’ll be fine! But now you know the consequences for your mistakes in the family. I feel pretty assured that you won’t be making anymore. That being said, the next one will be your last.”

She looks at him, eyes unfocused. He smiles at her anyway and gently lays her head on the floor. He stands up and heads to the door, opening it to the family doctor standing right outside ready to take on his new patient. “She’s all yours, Doc.” Lorenzo gives him a nod and walks down the wisely deserted hallway before disappearing around the corner.

Doc walks into the room, gloves already on and medical case ready. “You gonna need any help, Doc?” I ask straightening my own suit.

The burly man shakes his thick black haired head and kneels beside Anni in full doctor mode. I nod even though he can’t see me and walk out of the apartment, closing the door behind me. In the hallway, Vincent is waiting on me expectantly. “Needs a full deep clean. Dispose of anything of importance and make sure to install new carpeting.”

He nods and pulls out his phone. I walk to the elevator and get in when it opens. Stretching out my stiff muscles, I sigh. All in a day’s work.

My phone rings and I look at the screen, sighing again heavily. Though the days are never long enough.


	7. Niccolo (Nicco)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright now you guys are all caught up! The next chapter will be up next Thursday!

After Papa and Uncle Lunno leave I grab one of the Wii remotes and hold it out to North who’s standing by the bathroom door shyly. “Come on, you want to play, don’t you?”

North nods and takes the remote from me, I grab the other one and sit on the bed patting the spot next to me, he hops on the bed as I start the game.

A couple hours later, Rosaline calls us down for dinner. We eat dinner with her at the counter again as Papa and Uncle Lunno are too busy to make it. Papa’s on a conference call with some of his associates and Uncle Lunno went into the city to follow up some leads on North’s family and to handle some family business that needs to be done in town.

Once were done eating, we thank Rosaline and promise that we will get ready for bed once were upstairs. North grabs my hand as we head upstairs, I look down at him and he gives me a shy smile and clings to my arm. I can feel his excitement that he’ll be able to sleepover, as I’m just as excited. I admit that I secretly hope that Uncle Lunno never finds North’s family and he’ll be able to stay with us forever. Maybe his papa got robbed and was stabbed and is currently bleeding out slowly wishing that he was home taking care of his son. Or maybe he was kidnapped by a serial killer, who’s slowly torturing him, and as he’s slipping into the black heart of Lady Death he’ll regret abandoning his son and not taking better care of him.

Once we get back to my room I grab a pair of pajama pants for both of us, mine red and North’s black, and the matching button up shirts. We change and head into the bathroom to brush our teeth, standing side by side sharing the stool. Once were done we head out of the bathroom and I hop onto the bed, pulling North up by his arms as he hops on after me. I pull back the covers and let North get under first before I pull it under our arms. I grab my IPad from the bedside table and click onto the app that allows me to operate the lights. The app allows me to turn on and off the lights not only in the bedroom, but in the bathroom and closet as well. I can also control the TV and the temperature control in the room.

North stares at the app in awe, with his little mouth open in a wide O as I lower the dial for my bedroom lights slowly until only the sliver of light from the bathroom illuminates the room.

“Do you wanna try?” I ask North, as his mesmerized open-mouthed expression hasn't left his face even after I turned the lights off.

He nods furiously and puts his little kid finger on the control, slowly pushing it up until the lights brighten the room fully. He lowers it back down halfway so that the lights are dimmed, then all the way down, then all the way back up. His childish amazement brightens his face and draws my eyes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a boy as pretty as him. Actually, I don’t think I’ve even seen a girl as pretty as him either and I like to observe the people around me, so I would know. His skins is so soft and pale. His face doesn’t have that chubby roundness most kids have due to his being so skinny, though he’s not so skinny that he looks like a walking skeleton. His eyes are such a light gray that they look almost see through in the light from the IPad.

He flicks the light panel up and down rapidly, making the lights in the room strobe. He giggles and looks over at me to see if I’m enjoying the show as much as he is. I smile and his lips pull even wider, showing off his surprisingly white teeth.

“It’s like a party, Nicci! It’s so fun!”, he says giggling, the doofy smile still on his face.

“Nicci?”

“Yeah, it's my nickname for you. Short for Niccolo. Do you like it?” Now he’s forgotten about the lights, at their lowest point before being completely turned off but not quite, as he focuses on my response. He frowns slightly, his eyebrows turned in toward his nose. I smooth away the frown like Papa often does whenever I’m sad, and place a kiss on the line just like Papa does. The wrinkle straightens out and his little lips part slightly, his eyes open slowly from where they closed as I gave him the kiss. “Nicci?”, he whispers.

I put the IPad back on my side table, making sure the sides and bottom match up with the edges of the table, then I pull the covers up over both of our shoulders and slide over so that we breathe each other's air as we lay facing each other. “Yeah?” I answer.

“Are you my friend?”

“Yeah, you’re my friend too. I don’t have a lot of friends cause I don’t go outside all the time and you can't trust everyone that you meet. Not everybody’s as nice as me or you. Sometimes my Papa and Uncle Lunno aren't nice to other people but that’s just the way the world works. But I knew you were nice since I first saw you and I knew we were gonna be friends.” I put my hand on his head and run my fingers through his soft, blood red hair. I run my hand through the pool that’s settled on my pillow like a never-ending waterfall of blood. “Beautiful.”, I sigh.

North smiles sleepily as I pet him, “You’re my best friend in the whole wide world.”

“You're my best friend in all the galaxy.”, I counter.

“You're my best friend in all of space.”

“You're my best friend in all the stars, in all the planets, in all the galaxies, in all of space.”

We giggled, shoving each other around, becoming more rowdy as time goes on. Soon we’re rolling all over the bed, the covers discarded halfway off the bed as we yell and laugh, shoving and fighting to be the one on top. Even though I'm bigger than North, he’s a feisty fighter. Scrappy when you least expect it, especially because of his delicate, slight frame. As we tire, I allow North to be on top. He crows, holding my arms by the sides of my head.

“I won, Nicci. Now you have to do whatever I say.”

“Yeah and what’s that North? You won this round so you get a prize out of your captive.” He lets go of my arms to put his hand to his chin, in an exaggerated thinking pose.

What could he possibly want, I think. Clothes, food, shelter, all things that he doesn’t have that I could give him. Or at least Papa or Uncle Lunno could. I know that they have a lot of power over a lot of people. But that makes sense as the Don Papa has a lot of people to take care of and look after, and sometimes that means that you have to do bad stuff that’s against the law or hurt some people who hurt the people you care about. And sometimes you have to hurt people not necessarily because they deserve it but because it would make you feel better.

Uncle Lunno likes to tell me it's not good to keep stuff locked up, otherwise all the things you keep bottled up will explode out of you in front of the wrong people or when you have no control over it. Uncle Lunno says it's fine to express myself but if I'm going to do something that I know I really shouldn't be doing then I should make sure I never, ever get caught. Or at least make it so no one can prove anything.“It’s a philosophy to live by. In this world its used or be used, eat or be eaten, survival of the fittest. Where the weak are prey to be devoured and used to the conquerors content. And the Lombardi’s were always meant to be at the top of the food chain. Feeding off the fear and ignorance of the...”

“...kiss.”

I jerk out of my thoughts of Uncle Lunno’s “important lessons” to find North’s whole face tomato red, as if he was holding his breath longer than necessary. He's looking down shyly, playing with the bottom hem of my shirt.

“What did you just say?”

North huffs and looks at me in sullen, puffed cheeked anger, “I said I want you to give me a kiss. Since you’re my first ever best friend I thought that...” His anger suddenly deflates and he once again falls into his shy, down-turned head persona.

“Do you mean a kiss on the head or the cheek. Cause I’ve given you a lot of those kisses already, you don’t need to be shy about it.” I reply with a smile, trying to assuage his shyness.

“No, not a kiss on the head or on the cheek. I mean... on the lips like adults do.” He looks up and then quickly down, ringing the bottom of my shirt now as his nerves increase.

I laugh and he looks up at me, angry puffed up face returning. “You don’t have to be so shy about asking for a kiss, I’ll gladly give you one.”

His face immediately deflates at that and he scoots back onto my hips as I sit up. I grab both of his soft cheeks gently, and he stares up at me wide eyed. I dip my head down and tap his lips quickly with mine. As I pull back he blinks at me, “There, a kiss on the lips.”

He blinks rapidly before pulling back from my hands, “Whaaaa? No, I wasn’t ready. Do it again!”

I frown and lean back on my hands, “What do you mean you weren’t ready? You looked ready to me.” I shrug.

He gasped, “How would you know if I'm ready? You're not in my brain, you don’t know anything. I told you I wasn’t ready and I wasn’t. Now, do it again!”

He leans forward and closes his eyes hard, while poking out his lips. I cover my mouth, as I try hard not to shake too much and let him know that I’m laughing. He frowns as he realizes I'm not kissing him and squints at me, now I can't hold it anymore and burst out laughing. North sits up and crosses his arms, now glaring at me with his pushed-out fish lips.

“I can’t! I can’t!”

I grab my sides, and try to hold my ribs in as they start to ache. I sit up and look at him to see he’s still in the same pose, still as a statue and start cracking up again. Rolling onto my side as tears start to leak out of my eyes.

“You look just like a fish. Like a goldfish. North the Goldfish. Ahhhahhhhaaaa!”

I start cackling all over again, imagining North’s face on the body of a goldfish. He’d be another Darwin from, The Amazing World of Gumball. My laugh eventually dies down and I sit back onto my arms and consider North, he’s stiff as a board. His body actually shaking slightly with how hard he’s working to maintain the pose. As I look more closely at his face, I can see that its streaked with tears and another slides down his face dropping onto his shirt. He’s still maintaining his glare as he cries, not giving as inch to his emotions.

Guiltily, I sit up and hold my hands up as if to ward of a wounded animal, whose now more pissed off than ever before. “Hey, hey. I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you cry.”

Impossibly North’s cheeks get even bigger, puffing out like a blow fish. “I’m not crying, I’m so angry that tears are leaking out of my eyes.”

I give him a small smile and wipe the tears off of his face, he flinches at first but eventually allows me to wipe them away fully. “I’m sorry, Nor. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or make you mad at me.”

His cheeks deflate slightly and he loosens the tight cross of his arms, “Do you promise?”, he asks on a whisper.

“Yeah I promise. I would never try to hurt you Norry. You’re my best friend in the whole wide world, in all of space remember?”

He nods slowly, dropping his hands and relaxing his face. I open my arms and I’m slammed into the bed with an oof, as he wraps his arms around my body in a tight grip. “I don’t like when you laugh at me.”, he whispers into my neck.

I rub his back slowly up and down, my other hand going to the back of his head, “Of course I'm going to laugh at you, that’s what friends do. As long as I'm not laughing at you to be mean then you know I'm just joking, okay?”

He nods into my neck. We lay like that for a couple of minutes until I think he’s fallen asleep. My eyes start to feel drowsy as well and are about to close when I feel North sit up.

I look up at him through half closed eyes, “What’s up?” I ask him sleepily.

He shakes his head but continues to stare at my face. I open my arms again, knowing what it is that he wants though now he’s afraid to ask that I've laughed in his face and hurt his feelings. He leans forward placing his hands on my chest and bending over. I grab either side of his face as I had earlier and lean forward so that our lips are centimeters apart. “You ready?”, I ask.

He nods minutely and I close the last centimeters of space separating us and press my lips against his with a little more pressure than I did the first time we kissed. Our eyes are still open but as our lips linger, he slowly closes his eyes and opens his mouth slightly. I close my eyes too, and fit my lips against his like the first connecting pieces of a puzzle. We move our lips clumsily, trying to imitate the adults that we see kissing but I pull away and fit our lips back together, finding a rhythm that works for us.

A tingle settles in the bottom of my stomach that I've only felt when I'm going through what Anni calls my Piccola Anima Nera, little black soul, phases. During those times I get a giddy feeling in the bottom of my stomach, like swarms of bees are pressing against the inside of my stomach fighting to get out. During those times I have so much energy that I have to get it out some way, usually by doing something “bad”, in the words of Anni.

I lower my right arm around North’s waist and pull him closer to me as our lips continue to connect. I’ve never wanted to kiss someone the way I’m kissing North. I see all the time on TV when boys and girls say they like each other and kiss and hug and want to go everywhere together. Even though I’ve never been close to any other kids my age, I have seen them around when Anni takes me out places or when I go out with Papa or Uncle Lunno to their associates houses or to events. I’ve noticed when kids are more attractive than others but I didn’t feel a want to kiss them or hug and get close to them.

I once asked Uncle Lunno if there is something wrong with me because I don’t want to be around other kids my age or make friends with them when they try to talk to me. “No, there's nothing wrong with you Niccolo. That just means it harder for them to get into your confidence and there's nothing wrong with not trusting other people. It's your natural instinct that’s letting you know not to let them get too close. You should always trust your instincts and your heart. They’ll lead you in the right direction when nothing else can.”

But with North its different. I know that were supposed to be friends, maybe even deeper than that but for now I'm happy to have North as my best friend and I won't let anyone hurt him or take him away from me. Ever.


	8. Lunno

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know its not Thursday but eh lol. Enjoy!

I sigh and sink back into the backseat of the Rolls Royce, the driver glances into the back. “Everything okay, Mr. Lombardi?” 

Martin has been our family's driver for over twenty years, taking over after his father went into retirement. His family, the Moretti’s, has worked for us for generations, before even my great, great grandfather was the Don. They’ve been loyal to the Lombardi’s since the then Don of our family discovered and freed the Moretti’s daughter from her captor. She had disappeared at five, leaving no trace as to where she had disappeared to. The guess then was that she had wondered into the forest behind her parent's property in Connecticut and got lost. There was a search done of the woods but no signs of where she had disappeared off to or how she disappeared without a trace were found. 

It just so happened that the Don had some business in the woods with one of his associates out of Connecticut. More of a disposal of some unwanted garbage to never be found again and was there to oversee the disposal personally. After everything was taken care of, the head went to take a leak. Walking deeper into the forest, he happened to see a dim light coming from farther in the trees. Curious about possible inhabitants so deep into the woods, who could discover their “disposal” habits, he investigated. He came upon a small illuminated cabin that he went to explore, pulling his gun as he planned to dispose of the unwanted settler. Peeking into the windows, he saw a sparse cabin with a TV, couch, table and off to the side a small kitchen that was separated from the living room by a wood counter. Not seeing anyone in the house, he went around the side of the house planning to check the back and see if he could see into the back of the cabin. 

He stopped in his tracks when he heard something off into the woods to the side of the house. Sparing a quick glance to the house, he moved toward the noise he heard. It became louder, not too far into the woods and the head ducked behind a tree, gun aimed as he heard the distinct grunting of a male. Following those grunts were cries from a female. Though the grunts from the male were cries of pleasure, the grunts from the female were cries of pain. 

Listening closer he could hear in between the females grunts of pain were small cries of despair. Glancing around the tree he had ducked behind, he took in the scene before him that didn’t surprise him at all. In his line of work nothing much surprised him anymore, for the Don had seen some gruesome, disgusting things that would turn the stomachs of the most iron-gut, strong willed men. 

Chained to a tree by her wrists, was a blond-haired teenager who looked no older than sixteen. Her wrists were bloody and ringed, as if she had been chained by the wrist for years. Her hair, long and shiny, swayed on the dirt ground. She was bent at the waist, her face rocking into hands that were digging into the tree she was chained to, as she was fucked roughly from behind. Her barely developed breast swayed and shook both from the thrusts and her crying. She was naked and thin but in good health and clean. Behind her was a naked, lightly muscled man who looked to be in his sixties with full white hair. His hands were gripping her waist with surprising strength as he thrust into her with rising excitement, close to his climax. 

The head stepped from around the tree as he noticed the man was thoroughly focused on his thrusts, confident that they were so deep into the woods that they wouldn’t have any visitors. The female however, noticed the movement and stared at the head and the gun he held in his hands. The man didn’t notice that her cries and grunts had stopped as he started to climax. 

The head took aim and shot the man in the back of the knee, where it bracketed the females. The mans shout of pleasure quickly turned into a shout of pain as his shattered knee fell from under him. He yelled again as he landed on his injured knee, his long, skinny dick still spurting now onto the ground. He quickly rolled onto his back, holding his crushed and broken knee. A shadow suddenly fell over him and he realized suddenly that someone had hurt him and it wasn't his captive as he had broken any fight out of her long ago. He looked up at the muscular, handsome man above him and into his blank, cold face. 

“Whaa...?”, he gasped up at the stranger. 

The Don shrugged before giving him a hard kick in the ribs, breaking three or four of them. The man rolled onto his side with a scream clutching his injured ribs. As the man screamed and clutched himself, the head walked up to the female as she huddled against the tree that she was chained to and watched the scene unfold with silent tears running down her face. The head stopped in front of her and examined her for a long minute, he then pointed his gun at the man yelling on the ground, “You weren't into that were you, and I just ruined a very kinky moment?” 

She shook her head and starred up at him with opened-mouthed surprised and perhaps worship. The head nodded and put his gun away after staring into her eyes and deducing she wasn’t lying. He walked back over to the man, who had started dragging himself through the woods toward his cabin. The head grabbed the man by his white hair and dragged him back to the scene of his previous pleasure. He dropped him not far from the girl chained to the tree. 

The man glanced up her and before he could say a word, he started getting the shit beaten out of him. The Don systematically broke the man physically, starting with hands then moving to the arms and the legs, when the man thought to hide his arms from the torture. The man's femur broke under the repeated stomps, the stranger aiming with surprising accuracy to the same spot. The man blacked out many times, but the stranger always woke him with hard smacks to the face. 

Soon the man lay there like a broken marionette with its limbs in different directions. His bones stuck out in sharp relief in his arms and legs. His ribs on his other side had undergone the same treatment as their opposites, making it got harder and harder for him to breath with them puncturing his lungs. 

The head backed away from his victim, observing his work with his hands on his hips while he waited for his heavy breathing to slow. With satisfaction he walked back over to the girl, who had thrown up with the first siting of bone going through skin and was turned away from the scene. He took out his gun and shot the chain around the tree until it broke. He then held out the gun to the girl, handle first. “Choose.” 

The girl had looked from this mysterious man who had saved her life to the animal that had bruised, tortured, and broke her. The choice was quite simple but she was still the frightened little girl, who had ended up kidnapped while playing with her dolls in the woods behind her parents' house. She wasn’t meant to have gone through this trauma, she doesn’t know how she is going to survive after it. 

Almost as if the stranger read her mind, he said “You’ve survived up until this point. Your next step is right in front of you. This is your chance to put your nightmares to rest with your own hands.” 

She stared at the gun and eventually took it in shaking hand. The head wrapped her hands around the gun and instructed her on how to use it. She stood and walked in front of the broken man she had vowed to herself every night, she would one day kill. Now the time had come, God had heard her cries and sent salvation. 

“Please, princess. I love you, don’t do this! I've taken care of you. No one will ever love you how I love you!” he pleaded, snot and blood running down his face. 

She narrowed her eyes and screamed, “Fuck you and your delusions of love!” Then she pulled the trigger, not stopping until the clip emptied. 

“Feel better, princess.” the stranger asked. 

“Don't call me that! And yeah, I do.” She handed him the empty gun and glanced up at him through her hair. “Who are you anyway?” 

The Don put his gun away and smiled at her before walking through the woods, toward his waiting men, “Just call me your Italian guardian angel.” 

“Sir...Sir? Mr. Lombardi?”, Martin calls 

“Yeah.” 

“You okay, sir?”, Martin glances worriedly into the rearview mirror. 

“Yeah, just reminiscing about stories our father told to us before we went to bed.” I rub a hand over my eyebrows and give a slight smile. 

“Bedtime stories?” 

“Yeah but instead of the typical stuff told by regular parents, we got the alternative stories of the history of the great Lombardi Dons. More often to give kids nightmares than good dreams.”, my smile widens despite myself. 

“Well, it doesn’t look like they traumatized you too bad, sir. Looks like you came out alright to me.” 

I tip my head back against the seat back and sigh. If only you knew. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

Soon enough, we pull up outside of LD’s apartment. Martin opens the door for me and I walk up the stairs to the upscale, white brick building. Before I can buzz the bell for apartment 4D, the door props open silently. Obviously, LD knows I'm here. 

I walk into the waiting elevator and press the button for the 4th floor. It ascends and the doors open into a beige dominated hallway. LD is casually leaning in his doorway, waiting for me. 

“Wassup, boss man.”, he smiles showing off a slightly crooked, front tooth. His brown eyes crinkle at the corner, deep dimples appearing in his toffee-colored skin. His perfectly styled waves highlighted by the hall light. 

“Are we going to talk in the hallway or are you going to let me in?”, I ask. 

He quickly steps back from the door and sweeps his hand into the room. “Sorry, Boss. Come in.” 

I step through the door and into the spacious apartment decorated in cream and burgundy accents. A large burgundy-colored couch sits in the middle of the living room with a glass table sitting in front of it. The windows are covered by cream shades and abstract art covers the walls. Overall, the apartment is elegant and light. What detracts from that is the food wrappers, clothes, and game discs and controllers laying scattered around the room. 

“Sorry, it’s a mess. I didn’t get to clean up before you came over.” LD comments, while picking up some of the trash. 

“It’s fine.” I say, waving away his apology. “I won’t be here long and it’s your place. I just want to know what you’ve found.” 

He nods before leading me to a door discretely tucked into the wall to the left of the room. Pass the door is a small room with a number of monitors and illegal equipment. LD’s tech room and his home within his home. 

He slides into the computer chair and types his password into the computer with a speed, no one would be able to catch. 

“So, I looked this guy, Paul Levitt up and he was in some deep, shit man.” 

He pulls a police record with the mug shot of a man with lank, black hair and crystal grey eyes matching North’s. He looks haggard and strung out in the shot with blood-shot, wild-looking red eyes. 

“The guys been arrested so many times it ridiculous. Two counts of indecent exposure, possession of drugs and paraphernalia, resisting arrest. You name it. This guy was supposed to be put in jail a long time again.” LD reads with a shake of his head. 

I lean over getting a closer look at the screens, “So, why wasn’t he?” 

“Well...” He clicks on another page and pulls up photos, some blurred, of North’s father along with some cronies belonging to Hector Patel’s crew, the Mexican cartel. I groan dragging my hand over my face tiredly. The punches just keep coming. I’m going to kill Nicco. 

“Send me the photos and all the information that you’ve gotten so far on the guy. Anything on the rest of North’s family?” 

LD nods dragging files into a folder, “Yeah, he’s has a grandmother that lives in Queens. Apparently, she doesn’t associate herself with her son after he knocked up this chick at seventeen. Kicked him out and disowned him totally. He’s the only child. The mother, Nicole Fairhaven, became a drug addict after she had the kid and Paul started selling drug for the Cartel to make ends-meet. The mother overdosed six months later and Paul moved up in the ranks, though I don’t believe that the Cartel knows that he has a son.” 

I glance at him, “Why do you say that?” 

He gives me a sad smile and his dark, handsome face seems to age slightly, “Cause Paul was found two days ago with his head chopped off and his body mutilated in a warehouse by the pier. No way they wouldn’t have killed his son as well. Not with the way Hector runs things.” 

I sigh and pull a pack of cigarettes out of my pocket. I offer one to LD and he takes it. I light ‘em both and take a deep inhale. I was supposed to be quitting but this job is high stress with a low life expectancy. 

The fact that my father is still alive after being the Don for thirty years is practically a miracle. Grandfather was killed coming out of his favorite restaurant with his wife, he was forty-nine. Thankfully, Father had taken over that same year. Still, this life is anything but a dream. 

The mafia life has many benefits; money, power, respect. But to get these things you are constantly risking your life and the lives of those closest to you. You have to be willing to live the rest of your life on the edge, always looking over your shoulder and finding a way to profit off of and outsmart your enemies. 

Lorenzo was made the Don inherit instead of me for a reason. Even from a small child, Father could see that Lorenzo had a ruthlessness and a cold indifference that I didn’t. However, he didn’t love or treat me any differently than Lorenzo and he told me up front that he would be making Lorenzo the next to inherit the title of head of our family. Not because I was any weaker or unfit for the job than my brother but because Lorenzo was made to lead and cause mayhem and destruction. To manipulate others and win, always coming out at the top of his enemies, while having the charisma to draw many powerful allies that would otherwise be powerful adversaries. 

Father made sure that Lorenzo and I were as close as could be as brothers and that we would never get jealous of one another. Too many times in our world, leaders are stabbed in the back by those closest to them. 

Father is a smart and scheming man. It’s probably why he’s lived so long and is enjoying life now. 

I smile, inhaling the last of my cigarette to the filter before flicking it into the garbage next to the desk. “Alright. Give me all the information you have on the grandmother. What about the mother’s parents and siblings?” 

LD nods, cigarette still between his lips. “She was an only child as well. Parents died in a car accident a year after the kid, North, was born.” 

I shake my head and pull out my phone, ready to break the news to my brother. “Try and find out why Paul was killed.” 

LD nods again, already typing a mile a minute. I walk out of the room, phone to my ear. 

“Keep me posted.”


End file.
